Top Of The Box

This Mortal Coil - Song To The Siren, 1984

In 1984 Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of the record label, 4AD, brought together artists recording for his label at the time such as The Cocteau Twins, Colourbox, Modern English and Dead Can Dance to record an album under the guise of This Mortal Coil, a name taken from the William Shakespeare play, Hamlet.

Some of the tracks were collaborations between the various artists, but the stand out track from the album, It’ll End In Tears, was simply recorded by The Cocteau Twins - Robin Guthrie and Elisabeth Fraser, a haunting cover version of Tim Buckley’s Song To The Siren from his 1970 album Starsailor, though it was performed live on the final episode of The Monkees TV show in March 1968.

The song is a perfect vehicle for Elisabeth Fraser’s beautifully delicate voice.  It was a perfect introduction for my contemporaries and I to seek out the work of Tim Buckley, something The Cocteau Twins actively promoted.

Here is the promotional video for the Song To The Siren single showing Elisabeth Fraser to be as beautiful as her perfect voice.